Packing mechanism



Aug. 6, 1935. A. NOVOTNY 2,010,410

' PACKING mmcmmrsm Filed June 18, 19:54 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENT OR.

4020/; Mrofy ATTORNEY.

A. N OVOTN Y PACKING MECHANISM Aug. 6, 1935.

Filed June 18, 1934 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 I oooooooo I N VENTCR. flflZ'an /VovoZ/ 1 v ATTORNEY.

1935. A. NOVOTNY 2,010,410

PACKING MECHANISM Filed June 18, 1934 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. fl/IZ'o/r Nos 0Z7 w ATTORNEY.

Patented Aug. 6, 1935 UNITED- STATES PATENT- oFFIcE PACKING -MECHANISM Application June is, 1934, Serial No. 731.102

21 Claims. (o1. 22614) This invention? relatesv to improvements in packing mechanisms, and refers more particularly to such a mechanism for depositing containers, such as bottles,xpne ;row at a time, into :1; ppin cases- It is an objector the invention to provide a packing'mechanismcomprising a packing machine vvhich is, relatively cheap and simple to manufacture and automatic in operation; and

wherein means are provided for actuating a conveyor, to carry shipping cases into which the oon tainers are delivered by the machine, in synchronism with the latter.

Another object of the invention is to providea packing mechanism for handling containers, such as glass bottles, and dropping them' down chutes into shipping cases which travel upon a conveyor extending beneath the chutes; and wherein means are provided. for handling glass bottles in such a manner that they maybe safely dropped throughthe chutes into the cases.

A further object of the invention is to provide a packing mechanism comprising a packing machine having a transversely movable carriagev thereon to receive a plurality of containers in a row; a pen-divided into compartments each having a'plati'orm 'at the front and a chute at the rear,- and meansfo'r alternately loading containers upon the carriage andmoving the latter to plow off the load thereon upon the platforms; utilizing the second load of containers upon the carriage forpgnoving the containers already upon the platfirms over the chutes; and providing means for supporting the containers as they .are moved-- over the chutes until they have finally came to rest squarely over the latter. v

Having thus broadly and briefly'stated some of the major objects and advantages of the invention I will now proceed to describe 'a preferred 40 embodiment thereof, with the aid ofthe accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 illustrates a plan view of the invention.

Figure 2 is a section on the line 2- 2 of Figure 1.-

Figure}; is an end elevation omitting the feed conveyor.

v Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a horizontal sectional view showing the base of t e machine with the guide thereover 50 partly brok ,away to show the cam, and the bracket upon the base which supports the apron.

Figure 6 is a section on the line 6-B of. Figure l, and

Figure 7 is a sectional view similar to Figure 6 but showing a. container dropping down a chute of the base i to the rear margin of the guide 5.

lower margins of the said walls 8 and 9.

after the carriage has commenced to wards its forward position.

A base I and a subbase 2 aresuitably supported one above the other as by standards 3. A guide 5 is provided upon the base I, and projecting up- 5 wardly from the ,rear portions of the sides of the guide and extending rearwardly thereof are side walls 6 of a pen 1. The rear wall 8 of the pen which may be integral with the sides 6 is spaced behind the roar of the guide. 5, and the lower margin of the said rear wall is in substantial horizontal alignment with the base I. 9 denotes a vertical front wall,- spaced from the rear wall 3, whichextends upwardly from the'rear margin move to- The pen I is divided into a plurality ofcompartments [0 by vertical partitions H which extend forwardly from the rear wall 8; and'extending the full length of the pen I, and along the front portion theteof, is a platform 12. Rearwardly of the latter vertical chutes Illa are formed betweenthe verticalwalls 8 and 9 which are divided from one another by the partitions H the lower mar gins of which preferably terminate flush with the Transversely slidable upon the guide 5, and extending substantially the full length of the latter is a carriage l3 which is normally supported upon the front portion of the said guide. Along the" front margin-of the carriage l3 and integral therewith an upwardly projecting shifter plate I is provided, and Ila denotes a buffer mounted, in

the present instance, upon the guide 5 adjacent the outer extremity of the carriage when the latter is in its forward position. Mounted trans-- versely of the carriage and in axial alignment with its direction of movement are a plurality of rollers l5 which extend slightly above the upper face of the said carriage; and extending forwardly from the carriage at one extremity thereof and above the carriage is a stop IS. The carriage I3 and its rollers I5.are so positioned relative to the platform l2 as to just slide freely beneath the latter. 7

Rotatably supported above the base I in suitable 45' bearings are a plurality of horizontal shafts 20, 2|, 22 and 23 having spur gears, 25, 26 and 21 respectively fixed thereon so that they mesh with one another. The shaft 2| is provided with suitable driving means such as a pulley 28 and a. belt 29. The gear 26 is merely an idler to furnish driving means between the gears and 21. Upon the shaft 23 a cam 33, having a cam slot 30a formed around its periphery; is secured. This com slot receives a pin.3l which extends downwardly from the underside of the carriage I3 through a transverse slot 32 formed through the guide 5. The cam slot 30a is so shaped as to impart a reciprocating motion to the carriage I3; on theunderside of the latter are downwardly projecting tongues 33 slidable in grooves or ways 34 formed in the upper face of the guide 5. These tongues 33 are held in place in the ways 34 as by screws 33a which extend through vertical slots formed in the guide 5 parallel with the slot 32. It will be noted that the carriage I3 and platform I2, immediately beneath which it travels, areso proportioned that when the carriage reaches its rearmost position a sufficient portion thereof projects behind the said platform to form a longitudinal supporting ledge i311 shown in Figure 6.

A receiving apron I8, supported as by a bracket I9 resting on the base I, is arranged adjacent one extremity of the carriage I3 so that its upper surface is substantially in a plane with the upper faces of the rollers I5. The apron is provided with upstanding sides I80. which converge towards the carriage I3. A circular aperture is formed in the ron to receive a rotary feed plate 38 the upper fac the upper face of the said apron. This feed plate is secured to the upper 'extremityof avertical spindle 39 rotatably supported by a bearing 40 secured to the bracket I9, and also by a second bearing 4i mounted upon the subbase 2. 42 and 43 denote bevel gears secured around the shaft 20 and spindle 39 respectively for rotating the of which is in a plane with upon the platform I2 the next rearward movement of the carriage I3 with packages thereon causes the new row of packages to move the packages already upon the platform over the chutes Iila. The rear margin of the carriage I3 projecting as it does behind the platform I 2 when in its rearmost position, forms a ledge I3a to prevent the back row of packages dropping down the chutes Illa until after the carriage commences to move forward again, and therefore after the said packages have come to rest squarely over the chutes 10a.

While the arrangement of four chutes Illa and four feed fingers 35 is herein employed, it is of course understood that the machine may be built to. accommodate any desired number of packages in a row to be dropped simultaneously down chutes, and to provide means for moving any desired number of packages one after the other onto the carriage before the latter is moved by the cam.

In order to provide proper operation of the packing mechanism, it is obviously necessary to provide means for carrying shipping boxes B beneath the chutes so that each row of packages A drops in predetermined relation to, and usually adjacent, the row last packed. I therefore arrange upon the siibbase 2 a conveyor mechanism 50 operated in synchronism with the mechanism already described. In the present instance a bevel gear 5I upon the spindle 39 meshes with a gear 52 upon a head shaft 53 which operates a carrier latter. In order to prevent packages or bottles/ chain 54 having spaced, upwardly projecting lugs A passing over the apron I8 from riding upon that portion of the feed plate 38 which is turning away from the carriage 3, and also to assist in directing the packages towards the latter, a spring guide 60 is so mounted upon one of the apron walls I8a. as to project partly over the said feed plate.

Both the extremity of the carriage I3 adjacent the apron I8 and the adjacent portion of the said apron, are longitudinally and substantially centrally slotted to provide clearance for feed fingers 35 radial mounted on a rotary feed member 36 fixed upon the shaft 2 I. As'will be seen from Figure 4 these fingers 35 are uniformly spaced around a portion of the feed member periphery while no fingers project from the remainder of the feed member circumference.

During a. portion of each revolution of the feed member 35 a plurality of packages or bottles A are moved in rapid succession onto the carriage I3 by the fingers 35, one byeach of said fingers; and hen an interval occurs during which time that portion of the feed member 35 having no fingers extending from it is uppermost. The cam slot 30a is so formed that after each reciprocating movement of the carriage I3 the latter remains stationa-ry for an appreciable period of time. The rotation of the feed member 36 and the cam- 30 are so synchronized thatimmediately a package 01' bottle A has been-moved onto the carriage I3 oppositev each of the compartments I by the then ret fingers 35, the carriage is moved rearwardly by the. cam 30 so that the packages are plowed off onto the platform I2 by the forwardly and downwardly inclined margin of the latter. The cam the carriage to its forward position bottle A moved thereonto by the'leading finger 35 upon the next revolution of the feed member 36., During the rearward movement of thecarriage I3 7 V the. S1109 I positively prevents a package from leaving the apron IQ.

when one row of. packages has been lodged.

55 thereon in connection with which rollers 58 are provided on both sides of the said chain. The lugs 55 contact the ends of shipping cases 13 and advance them at such speed over the rollers 56 that rows of packages A are delivered into the cases adjacent one another. The shipping cases may be sub-divided by dividing walls or partitions into compartments C, each of which is intended to receive one package or bottle A.

Further in order to render the entire mechanism fully automatic and to prevent delivery of packages or bottles A to the apron I8 when the feed member 36 and carriage I3 are not operating, I prefer to utilize asecond conveying mechanism to deliver packages onto the apron I8 as shown at I0, and to utilize a common driving means-hot shown-for this conveyor and for the pulley 28. In the arrangement diagrammatically shown in the drawings the conveyor I0 is provided with ca 'er plates II each of whichdelivers one package or bottle A onto the apron I8.

Relativeito the loading of the packages A upon the carriage I3; each package is moved onto the carriage rollers I5 'by one of the fingers 35, and each package behind the first one, when advanced, moves the packages in front of it onto the rollers until the last package advances the leading package until it strikes the buffer Ila. Then the four packages upon the carriage are opposite the four compartments l0. It may also be remarked that the front vertical edges of the partitions II are thin in order to insure each package being moved into the compartment opposite to it. To facilitate the delivery of the packages from the rollers I5 onto the platform I2 by the shifter plate I 4, which is integral with the carriage I3, the front portion of the upper face of the platform is downwardly and forwardly inblined so that the front margin thereof, which is positioned just above the top of the rollers, is relatively thin.

While in the foregoing the preferred embodiment of the invention has been described and shown, it is understood that alterations and modi fications may be made thereto provided the said alterations and modifications fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What 3. claim is: 1. A packing mechanism comprising a guide, a

carriage thereon, means for intermittently movering the packages thereon upon the platform, the movement of said packages onto the platform forcing other packages already thereon over the chute.

2. A packing mechanism comprising a guide, a

4 carriage thereon, means for intermittently moving packages onto the carriage, a pen opposite the carriage, a platform extending across the front of the pen, a chute at the rear of the pen behind the platform, means reciprocating the carriage intermittently and-delivering the packages thereon .upon "the pl orm, the movement of said packages onto the platform forcing other packages already thereon rearwardly over the chute, and means preventing the packages over the chute from falling therethrough until they have come to rest squarely thereover.

3. A packing mechanism comprising a guide, a carriage thereon, means for intermittently moving packages onto the carriage, a pen opposite the carriage, a platform extending across the front of the pen, a chute behind the platform at the rear of the pen, and means reciprocating the carriage intermittently immediately beneath the platform and delivering the packages upon the carriage onto the platform, the movement of said packages onto the platform forcing other packages already thereon over the chute, and the rear margin of the carriage at its rearmost limit of travel projecting beyond the. platform into the chute and forming a supporting ledge to prevent packages over the chute from falling therethrough until the carriage has commenced to move forward again.

by the carriage preventing movement of packages I so thereonto during the, reciprocation of the carriage, a pen rearwardly into which the carriage is reciprocated, a platform across the front of the pen onto which the packages are delivered upon reanvard movement of the carriage, and a chute across the rear of the pen behind the platform, the movement of 'the packages onto the platform forcing other packages already thereon rearwardly over the chute.

5. A packing mechanismcomprising a guide, a carriage thereon, means for moving packages onto said carriage, means intermittently reciprocating the carriage, a pen adjacent the guide into which the carrlage'is reciprocated, the. pen being divided into\ a plurality of vertical compartments,

a platform a'cross the front of each compartment onto each of which one of the packages is deliv- 6. A packing mechanism comprising a guide, .a carriage thereon, means for moving packages onto said carriage, means intermittently recipro-' eating the carriage, a pen behind the guide into which the carriage is reciprocated, the pen being divided into a plurality of vertical compartments,

a platform across the front of each compartment immediately beneath which the carriage moves,

and onto each of which one of the packages is delivered from the carriage upon rearward movementof the latter, a chute at the rear of each compartment into which a package already upon the platform in front of it is forced by the delivery of one of said packages onto said platformfrom the carriage, and means restricting the opening at the top of the chutes upon rearward movement of the carriage so that the packages cannot then drop therethrough.

7. A packing mechanism comprising a guide, a carriage thereon, means for intermittently moving packages onto the carriage, a pen, a platform across the front thereof beneath which the car riage is reciprocated, to deliver packages thereon onto the platform, a chute at the rear of the pen over which the packages are moved by the delivcry of a second set of packages onto the platform, in combination with a conveyor mechanism travelling beneath the chute adapted to carry packing cases into which the packages fall, and means for synchronizing the-conveyor and carriage movement so that the former travels a predetermined distance between the discharge of each set of packages down the chute.

8. A packing mechanism comprising an apron, a rotary feed member having a plurality of radial feed fingers uniformly spaced around a portion of its periphery, a carriage normally in radial alignment with the feed member onto which packages are adapted to be moved from the apron by the feed fingers, means {intermittently recipe rocating the carriage parallel with the feed member axis, a pen opposite thecarria'ge, a platform across the front of the pen, immediately beneath which the carriage is reciproeated to deliver packages thereon onto the platform, a chute behind the platform in'the pen over which packages alreadyupon the platform are moved by the packages being delivered thereonto from the carriags, and a common driving means for the feed member rotation and the intermittent carriage reciprocation so that the feed fingers only move packages towards the carriage when'the latter is in radial alignment with the feed member.

9. A packing mechanism comprising an apron, a guide, acarriage mounted thereon for intermittent reciporcation, a rotary feed member having its axis parallel with the direction of movement of the carriage, feed fingers carried by the member adapted intermittently to move a plurality of packages from the apron onto the carriage, a pen into which the carriage moves, a platform across'the front of the pen onto which the packages are delivered by the carriage, and a chute at the rear of the pen over which other packages already upon the platform are moved by the first named packages as the latter are delivered onto the platform.

10. A packing mechanism comprising an apron,

means deliveringpaokages thereonto, a guide adjacent the apron, a carriage mounted thereon for transverse reciprocation, means intermittently the front thereof beneath which the carriage is the carriage, a pen, a platform extending across rsciprocated, a chute at the rear of the pen, the carriage delivering: packages thereon upon the platform and forcing other packages already on the platform over the chute, and a conveyor travelling beneath the chute adapted to carry pack- -i ng cases to receive the packages which fall through the chute.

11. A packing mechanism comprising an apron, a guide adjacent thereto, a carriage mounted for transverse reciprocation upon the guide, means intermittently moving the carriage, other means carriage,.means preventing the packages being moved over the chutes from falling therethrough until they have come to rest thereover, each chute being adapted to support a package in a substantially vertical position during its movement therethrough, and a conveyor moving beneath the chutes adapted to carry packing cases to receive the packages as they fall through the chutes. a

- 12. A packing machine including a reciprocating carriage, means for moving a plurality of.

bottles thereonto when the carriage is in one position, a chute adjacent which the carriage is adapted to be moved, and down which the bottles drop, and means plowing the bottles off the carriage as they latter approaches the chute.

13.. A packing machine including a reciprocating carriage, means. for feeding a "plurality of packages onto the carriage when the latter is in one position, means plowing all the packages off the carriage as theilatter approaches a second position, and a chute partly over which the carriagemoves and downwwhich the packages drop.

14. A packing machine including a reciprocating carriage, means for moving-a plurality-of bottles thereonto when the carriageisat one end of its travel, a chute adjacent which the carriage is positioned at the opposite end of its travel and down which the bottles drop, andmeans plowing the bottles off the carriage as the latter approaches the opposite end of its travel.

15. A packing machine including a reciprocating .-carrlage,- means for moving a plurality of bottles thereonto when the carriage is at one end of its travel, a chute adjacent which the carriage is positioned at the opposite end of its travel and down which the bottles drop, means obstructing ,the chute to prevent the passage of bottles therethrough when the carriage is at said oppositegend'of its travel, and means for plowing thebottles off the carriage as the latter approaches said opposite end of its travel.

16. A packing machine including a reciprocating carriage, means for moving a plurality of bottles thereonto when the carriage is at one end of its travel, a chute adjacent which the carriage is positioned at the opposite end of its travel and down which the ,bottles drop, and means for plowing the bottles off the carriage as the latter approaches the opposite end of its travel, in combination with a conveyor extending beneath the chute adapted to carry packing cases to receive the dropped bottles, and means operating the conveyor in synchronism with the carriage.

17. A packing mechanismincluding a reciprocating carriage, means for feeding a row of bottles thereon when said carriage is in one position, means plowing the bottles off the carriage as the latter approaches a second position, a chute partly over which the carriage moves and down which the bottles drop, in combination with a conveyor extending beneath the chute to carry packing cases to receive the dropped bottles, and means operating the conveyor continuously and in synchronism with the carriage so that each row of bottles dropped alights in the packing cases adjacent the previously dropped row.

18. Apackingsmachine including a carriage, means for reciprocating the-carriage, means for moving a plurality of bottles thereonto, a platform onto which the bottles are transferred by movement of the carriage, and a chute over which said bottles are moved by other bottles upon the carriage upon the next reciprocating movement of the latter.

19. A packing machine including a carriage, means for reciprocating the carriage, means for moving a plurality of bottles 'theieonto, a plat form onto which the bottles are transferred by movement of the carriage, a chute over which said bottles are moved by other bottles upon the carriageupon the next reciprocating movement of the .latter, and means preventing the bottles from dropping through the chute until after they have been squarely positioned thereover.

20. A packing machine including a carriage,

means for reciprocating the carriage intermit'-' tently, means for feeding a plurality of bottles thereonto, a platform onto which the bottles are transferred by movement of the carriage, a chute over which said bottles'are moved by other botties upon the carriage upon the next reciprocation' of the latter, and means obstructing ,the feeding of bottles onto the carriage when the latter is in motion.

ing cases to receive the dropped bottles, and

means operating the conveyor in synchronism with the carriage.

i I ANTON NOVOTNY; 

